


The Next Christmas Invasion

by Goldy, mrv3000



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Adventure, Angst, Drama, F/M, Humor, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-12-24
Updated: 2008-12-23
Packaged: 2017-10-19 18:54:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/204143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goldy/pseuds/Goldy, https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrv3000/pseuds/mrv3000
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor and Rose are looking forward to a completely ordinary first Christmas in Pete's World. Unfortunately, their version of ordinary involves an alien invasion.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Also co-authored by shinyopals. Thanks to rynne for betaing!

It was never going to work, but Rose didn't have the heart to tell the Doctor that. Besides, it would be a great laugh, she thought with a smirk.

The Doctor juggled the stack of presents in his arms as they walked up to the front door.

"You're sure I can't carry--" Rose offered.

"Nope! Got it!" the Doctor quickly interrupted.

It took real effort for Rose not to laugh at what she knew would fail - a present blockade would be no match for her mother. The door flung open before they even had a chance to ring the bell or use a key.

"Merry Christmas, sweetheart!" Jackie pulled her inside, flinging her arms around Rose's neck. Rose squeezed back.

"Merry Christmas, Mum! Mmmm, something smells good in here."

"Turkey with all the trimmings is just what this family needs! All together on Christmas," Jackie said, letting go and turning to the Doctor.

"Merry Christmas, Jackie!" The Doctor positioned the presents between them with a very satisfied look on his face. "I'd, you know, give you a hug but I've got these. Probably should put them down somewhere, eh? The living room?"

"Oh no you don't! Give me those!" Jackie pulled the presents out of the Doctor's hands and plunked them on a nearby table. "Come here, you!"

She grabbed the Doctor by the lapels and gave him a big snog, and his arms immediately started to flap. Rose burst out laughing, kicking herself for not having her camera.

Tony ran in the room and Rose scooped him up in a hug. "Merry Christmas, Tony!"

Tony wiggled to look at his mother who was now crushing the Doctor in a bear hug. "Why's Mummy jumping on the Doctor? Is he gonna give her a piggy-back ride?"

Rose wiped away tears from laughing so hard at the image, and the Doctor's glare had her practically gasping for breath.

Before the Doctor had a chance to say anything further, Jackie grabbed the pile of presents and marched into the living room, leaving Rose and the Doctor in the hall. The Doctor seemed to take this as a cue to hunt for an escape route - his eyes darted back to the front door and took in the locks, before considering the windows, the doors to other rooms and the stairs. He patted his pocket, presumably checking for the sonic screwdriver.

Rose giggled again, holding her hand over her mouth as she tried to stop herself. He sent her another sulky glare.

"She only does it because she knows you hate it," she said. "Maybe next time, you should kiss her. You'll put her right off if she thinks you don't mind."

"I am not-" he began, a look of horror on his face, but he snapped his mouth shut when Jackie appeared again.

"Come on, you two," she said. "Don't think you're standing here and talking all day. There's potatoes to be peeled!"

The Doctor's eyes widened, and he glanced back at the door like he was considering running away. Jackie cleared her throat and the Doctor looked back at her. "But- but- you're millionaires!" he said. "You have a cook! I know you do!"

"Doctor," said Rose, rolling her eyes. "If they'd asked her to work today, she wouldn't get to spend Christmas with her kids."  
He frowned, apparently having forgotten about that. "Oh, yes. I suppose so."

Jackie bustled them both into the kitchen, the Doctor lurking behind Rose as though he might be able to hide. Pete sat at the kitchen table, a glass of wine next to him, with a Santa hat on his head and some parsnips on a chopping board in front of him.

"Green beans need the ends cutting off," Jackie instructed, grabbing the Doctor's arm and plunking him down in a seat at the kitchen table. "Think you can manage it?"

"Jackie, I'm nine hundred years old," he replied. "I have cooked before."

Jackie raised an eyebrow. "I don't want any funny alien stuff in my Christmas dinner, thank you very much."

Pete stood up. "Anyone want a drink?"

The Doctor glanced up hopefully. "Yes _please_!" Pete chuckled quietly and reached back to get him a glass.

Rose also eyed the wine as Jackie thrust the potato peeler at her and pushed her into a seat next to the Doctor. "Turkey needs to be taken out in an hour," said Jackie. "Make sure you don't overdo it. No one likes a dry turkey. Come on, Tony, let's go see what's on the box." She swept out of the room, leaving the other three with their tasks.

The Doctor looked at the potatoes with renewed wariness like a domestic afternoon of peeling and chopping was an insurmountable challenge. Rose took pity on him, catching him off-guard with a kiss that he returned until the sound of Pete clearing his throat loudly made them stop. The Doctor grinned at her with an expression that... well, it was probably good that Rose didn't have any thoughts of world domination since that look on his face said he'd probably lay out a plan for her if she asked.

He really was an adorable nutter. _Her_ adorable nutter.

A thought of the other Doctor flitted through Rose's mind, along with that now-familiar pang. It might not be Christmas where he was right at that moment, but she hoped... she hoped he had someone. Lots of someones.

As the Doctor launched into a history of beans and how they were brought to Earth by aliens eight thousand years ago, the improbability of the situation suddenly hit Rose. Here were two men who should be impossible, both now in her life. Fixing potatoes and beans under the command of her mum, no less. And on Christmas too. She smiled to herself.

\--------------------

Despite the Doctor's best attempts to "accidentally" set the microwave on fire after an unfortunate incident with the potatoes and Jackie's best set of china, they eventually managed to sit down to eat Christmas dinner.

The Doctor leaned casually back in his chair as Rose brought out the stuffing. "Want some help, Jackie?"

"You stay out of my kitchen!"

Rose narrowed her eyes at the Doctor who, in his I'm-so-innocent tone, said, "Well I can hardly help it if all this strange and human cooking equipment confuses me."

"You're never going in my kitchen again!"

"Because that wasn't the result he wanted at all," Rose muttered to herself, pushing open the door to see Pete carving the turkey.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Mum banned the Doctor from the kitchen."

Pete shook his head. " _Years_ , I've been trying. And he swans in here for the first time and manages it."

"That's the Doctor," said Rose fondly, grabbing the bread sauce, cranberry sauce and ketchup before heading back into the dining room.

Eventually all five of them were seated and had their food. Rose tucked in eagerly, half listening to the Doctor explaining to Tony about how much easier it would be to save the world if he ate his greens. Apparently the Doctor was trying to stop Jackie shooting death glares at him over the mess he'd (purposefully) made of cooking.

The Doctor grinned at Rose and then, when Jackie was busy praising Tony and not paying attention to him, dumped a couple of his own sprouts on Rose's plate, looking hopeful. Pete turned his laugh into a cough and Rose rolled her eyes, rotating her plate around so the Doctor had no way of easily stealing one of her potatoes.

He pulled a mock offended look, as though he would never even consider it, then tried to nick some of her turkey.

Jackie's head snapped around and she glared at him. The Doctor stopped, caught with Rose's turkey hovering in mid-air in front of his mouth before sheepishly withdrawing back to his own food. Rose sniggered and took another bite of turkey, when Jackie's mobile rang and she pulled it out of her pocket.

"Jacks, we're eating," said Pete. "Can't it wait?" But Jackie frowned at the screen.

"It's Di," she said. "She's in Miami for Christmas. What's she doing phoning my mobile?" She brought the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

The Doctor glanced at Rose, who shrugged. She'd met Diana Marshall a few times, but wasn't familiar enough with her to know what this could be about. Pete opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by a sharp and official sounding bleeping. He jumped to his feet and dashed out the room without a word.

"What-?"

"Dad's work phone," explained Rose.

"Is it aliens?" asked Tony hopefully.

The Doctor and Rose exchanged glances.

"You know, all things considered," said the Doctor, "we should probably have expected this."

Rose smiled. "Sycorax?"

"And the Racnoss. _And_ the Titanic."

Jackie looked up from her phone and pulled open one of the wooden cupboards against the wall of the dining room, revealing a TV.

"Di says we're to turn on the telly," she said, reaching forward to flick the switch. The screen showed white noise, but Rose thought she could just about make out some fuzzy shapes in the background. "What on Earth's-?"

"Shh!" hissed the Doctor, standing up and moving around the table, Rose following. He pulled out his glasses and slid them on, moving the screen forward to peer behind it.

Pete returned to the room. "Major Wright says we've got to turn on the t-" He broke off, seeing they already had. "How the hell did Di know before Major Wright?"

Jackie tapped her nose. "Bet you wish you knew."

"Yes, I do, actually, given I'm supposed to be the one who's in the loop for this sort of thing."

"Would you two shush?" demanded the Doctor, who was now aiming the sonic screwdriver at the screen. "Seems to be a problem with the signal, not the TV itself-"

"Should think not, the amount we paid for it," said Jackie, with a sniff.

"I wanna see!" demanded Tony.

"There's nothing to see," said the Doctor, thumping the side of the screen, whether in frustration or to try and make it work Rose wasn't sure. "Stupid, rubbishy signal."

"Watch it!" said Jackie. "I don't want you breaking anything else in here!"

The Doctor shot Rose a _look_ to express exactly what he thought about Jackie and she bit her lip, amused.

"Can you boost the signal or something?" she asked. "Could Torchwood...?"

He shook his head. "Not from here," he answered, pushing the television back into place again with a sigh. "Whoever's broadcasting needs to fix it themselves. Unless we can... ooh, hello."

The picture on the screen suddenly jumped into focus, showing an empty looking room with a few screens and flashing lights in the background. Rose stared, wondering what was going on, before someone swept back around in front of the camera and into view.

"Piece of advice, people of Earth," he said. "Insectoid species are all well and good for your army of darkness, but don't bother asking them to broadcast a TV signal because they haven't got a clue!"

Rose stared. He seemed _very_ familiar. He looked human and wore a green suit with a Santa hat and had some tinsel around his neck.

"Hang on," said Jackie. "Isn't that the host of _Eggs in your Basket_?"

"The _what_?" asked the Doctor.

"Kids' TV game show," said Rose. "Tony watches it."

"Anyway," the man continued, grabbing a chair from just off camera and dropping into it. "All these technical difficulties are messing up my plans." He dug into his pocket and pulled out some index cards, making a show of scanning them. "And I had such a lovely speech written as well." He sent an over dramatic pout at the camera. "I was going to be all 'Citizens of Earth, this is the end of days' and now I feel the moment's ruined!" He tore the index cards and tossed them behind him, with a chirpy grin at the camera. "Looks like I'll have to improvise!"

Rose turned to glance at the Doctor, who was staring open mouthed through his glasses.

"What's going on?" she said. "You don't recognise him, do you? Is he human? Or just disguised as one?"

"Not a clue," said the Doctor, with a shrug.

"Fat lot of good you are," muttered Jackie from behind them and the Doctor waved his hand to shush her.

"So where was I?" said the man on the screen. "Ah yes, I probably should introduce myself, since this'll be the last thing any of you ever get to see." He paused. "Apart from each other's screaming faces, of course, but I'm certainly the last intelligent thing you'll see."

The Doctor snorted derisively, apparently more insulted by what the man was implying about who was more intelligent than by the threat to the country (or was it the planet?). Rose nudged him with an elbow and he turned to look at her, mouthing "What?"

"My name is... well, simple human brains can't understand it, so call me Kevin. I'm from a nice little place ooh... about fifty thousand light years that way-" He pointed. "But anyway, enough about me and my planet. You wouldn't like it there much - too much carbon dioxide for you."

"Carbon dioxide?" murmured the Doctor, rubbing his nose and frowning. "And half way across the galaxy."

"Well he's _not_ the host of _Eggs_ , then," muttered Jackie darkly. "Should think so too. If they'd been hiring aliens, I'd have something to say."

"Doctor, any idea where he's from?" asked Pete hopefully, behind them, choosing to ignore Jackie.

"Not a clue!" he chirped, grinning and shooting a wink at Rose as though this was a good thing.

"What about-?" she began, about to remind the Doctor that Kevin looked like a human. But Kevin started talking again and she turned back to the screen, deciding to wait in case this was important.

"But I'm afraid to tell you, citizens of Earth, that I quite like this planet of yours. Lots of water, nice temperature, atmosphere mostly still there. Pity about the people, really." He broke off and wrinkled his nose in disgust. Rose half expected him to pull out a cigarette to fully express his disdain.

"What's wrong with the people?" muttered the Doctor sulkily, reaching out to take Rose's hand. Rose smiled to herself, unsure whether the Doctor was more offended on behalf of the human race in general, or because he was part one himself these days.

"The thing is," continued Kevin, "I had a really _great_ idea. So great, even the people from my own planet weren't so keen on it, the boring tossers." He sat up straighter, shoving two fingers in his mouth and whistled.

An alien appeared on the screen from the right hand side. Unlike Kevin, it was obviously alien: perhaps seven foot tall but it more closely resembled an insect than a human.

"What the hell is that?" demanded Jackie.

"Is it an alien?" asked Tony enthusiastically. Rose kept her attention focused on the TV screen, but she was vaguely aware of her mother suddenly bundling Tony out the room.

The bug creature walked on the back two of its six limbs, the remaining two sets seeming to be more like arms. The middle set were the thinnest and spindliest of all the limbs, with small hand-like claws on the ends. The top set were thicker in size, ending with larger claws which looked far too strong for Rose's liking. Even on the small and low quality picture, she could see the deep, greenish colours of the carapace and the way it shone in the light.

"Isn't that _beautiful_?" breathed the Doctor, reaching towards the screen as though he could touch it, before remembering himself and dropping his hand.

"I dunno," said Rose, "looks a bit too much like a big green ant to me. What is it?"

"A lk'ljk," said the Doctor simply, as though that explained everything.

"A look-le-what now?"

"Lk'ljk," he repeated. "From this galaxy, but then so's our mate Kevin. They're not very- _Shh_!"

The lk'ljk hissed at the screen and the Doctor listened intently. Rose rolled her eyes, resisting the temptation to tell him off for shushing her when he'd been the one talking.

"This is the leader of the lk'ljks," explained Kevin, when it had finished hissing. "He just said hello-"

"He just said 'is this necessary? can we get on with it?'" murmured the Doctor.

"-And how much he's looking forward to living on this planet."

"That doesn't sound so good," said Rose.

"Not really, no," agreed the Doctor.

"Problem is, the lk'ljks need a nice planet like this one to breed on, but they don't really fancy sharing it. I'm sure you all understand. And if you don't, well... I'm not sure there's a lot you can do about it." He paused and inspected his fingernails for a second before looking up suddenly. "Oh wait, I didn't get to that bit yet, did I? Silly me, forgetting like that."

The Doctor still watched intently and Rose turned around and glanced at her dad, who'd got out a laptop and was reading through something. He saw Rose's glance and shrugged, nodding back towards the Doctor, clearly hoping that he'd ge. Apparently he didn't have any more answers than she did.

"Anyway, the plan is, in about an hour's time things are about to get a bit... _fun_." Kevin's grin widened and he licked his lips. "I suppose you lot might call it a bomb, but there's not really an explosion as such. Explosions are all well and good and have their purpose, but you'd need a really big one to take out a planet this size. This bomb is more... biological." He stretched his arms behind his head and relaxed back into the chair. "I'd give it three months, maybe four, and the poisons in the bomb will have spread around the entire planet, with no antidote." He sat up straighter again and waved at the camera. "Bye bye people of Earth."

"Is that possible?" demanded Pete.

"Oh yes," said the Doctor grimly. "Not only possible, but not even all that difficult."

"But you know the technology?" said Rose urgently. "You can disarm it?"

He nodded slowly, scratching his temple. "Should be able to, yes. If we can find it."

Rose swallowed nervously, biting her lip. _Of course_ the Doctor would know how to stop Kevin and the lk'ljks, but finding where they were first would be a problem. Torchwood had all sorts of scanners but this bloke was broadcasting to the world. He had to be pretty sure of himself and his success. It wasn't as though they hadn't been in worse situations before and come out on top, but it only took one wrong move and that would be it. The end. Already, she itched to be out there, running to find him, but where would they run?

The Doctor squeezed her hand and shot her a quick smile, understanding as well as she did.

"Oh, and one last thing," said Kevin. "For all of you environmentalists out there: don't worry. The bomb's genetically encoded. Humans are done for, and possibly certain species of chimp, but polar bears are safe. So is anything sufficiently genetically different from a human, for that matter, including myself and the lk'ljks."

With that, he jumped to his feet and disappeared out of the picture. A second later, the camera shut off, leaving white noise again. Rose sprang to her feet and flipped off the television.

"Have you got anything for me, Pete?" asked the Doctor, whirling around and jumping over to stare over her dad's shoulder.

"Torchwood detected some funny signals this morning," said Pete. "Nothing too interesting, so nobody made a fuss. Aside from that, we've only got this broadcast, and we think we can trace it to a factory just outside of London."

The Doctor peered at the screen, frowning slightly, before whipping off his glasses and pocketing them.

"Well, best get to it then, hadn't you? Probably not worth it, but you've got to do something."

"Hadn't _we_?" asked Pete. "Aren't you going to-?"

"Not the time!" shouted the Doctor, running for the door and grabbing Rose's hand as he did. "I need to check something! Shelter as best you can from the bomb!"

"What on Earth-?" began Rose.

"I'll explain in a sec!" he said, pulling the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket. "You've got a computer in your car, haven't you? I can get access to the Torchwood system from there?"

Rose nodded, digging in her pocket for her car keys a little awkwardly as they ran out of the house and down the steps to where her car was waiting. She scrambled into the driver's seat and started the engine, before turning expectantly to the Doctor, who had the screwdriver pointed at the computer as he furiously bypassed the Torchwood security systems and let himself in.

"Where to?" she asked, shifting the car into gear and heading down the driveway and away from the house, shooting one last nervous glance over her shoulder as she did so. She'd be back, of course she would, but she couldn't help but wish she hadn't had to sprint out of the door with no goodbyes.

"Into the city," said the Doctor, glaring at the screen.

"How'd you know?"

"I don't, I'm guessing."

Her stomach did a nasty somersault. The Doctor's intuition was good, but this was pushing it.

"Why?"

"I think Kevin's using a technique to scatter the signal by hijacking other people's televisions," replied the Doctor, tugging off part of the car's dashboard to expose some of the wires. "Easiest to do from a central location."

Rose nodded and turned left out of the driveway, into the city, putting her foot down and shifting up a gear. The message had caused a flood of people, both in cars and just walking, to empty out of houses and into the street, but years of practice (and several hazardous driving courses with Torchwood) allowed her to weave in and out of the traffic and people more safely than most. A red light ahead reminded her, and she thumped a button on the dashboard that changed any traffic lights to green as they sensed the car approaching. Now she just had to hope that people were still obeying the traffic lights.

"What about what Dad said?" she asked, swerving around a corner, squeezing in between a couple of cars as she did so and causing them both to sound their horns at her.

"False signal," replied the Doctor, fiddling with the wires. "Easy to do, easy to recognise. Scattering it is the first defence. Then people like Torchwood fight back against that and get a fake location, which is the second defence. But they won't have expected me!" He thumped the side of the screen. "Come on, you stupid machine, come on! Yes! Ha!"

"What is it? Have you got something?" demanded Rose, feeling a flood of relief.

"I was right!" he said. "Just south of the river. An old, abandoned building that used to belong to... Cybus Industries. Lovely."

"Makes sense," said Rose. "They owned so much and nobody knows what to do with most of their buildings."

"Knock 'em down and build something pretty," said the Doctor, as though it was obvious.

Rose smiled. "Don't think it's that simple."

"Don't see why not."

"You can add that to your list of things to tell the President if you ever get to meet her," she said, smiling despite the situation. So far, most likely due to careful planning on her dad's part, the Doctor hadn't had a chance to meet Harriet Jones.

"I think I shall," said the Doctor.

"What's the address, then?" asked Rose, glancing over to the Doctor. "And for God's sake put your seat belt on!"

Grumbling a little, apparently of the mind that going at fifty miles an hour in London was perfectly safe, he complied.

"Next left," he added, forcing her to slam on the breaks and swerve.

This, she remembered, was the main reason she never let the Doctor navigate these days.

\--------------------

The building itself was nondescript. Grey and dull, with few windows, Rose guessed it had been a factory or a warehouse. Lumic, with all his connections and power, had found it remarkably easy to get land closer to the centre of London (and other cities) than most normal businessmen might. Still, the only clue that it had once been owned by Cybus Industries was the logo on the double doors at the front, which Rose drove straight past.

"Fire escape might be better, right?" she said. "Got any idea where they are?"

"Not marked online," said the Doctor, shrugging. "Just keep going until we find one." He turned off the computer and pocketed his glasses and screwdriver as she drew the car to a halt in a grubby looking alley. He was out of the car before she'd even got the keys out of the ignition. Rose reached inside the glove compartment and pulled out the small gun she kept, attaching it to her belt just underneath her jacket. Just because the Doctor accepted that part of her life these days didn't mean she had to advertise it.

She opened the door and hurried after him.

"Come on, haven't got all day!" he said, holding open the fire door he'd unlocked just enough for her to slip inside. Before she could get a look at the room, the door shut behind her, leaving them completely in the dark.

A hand found hers. Well, more accurately, a hand smacked into her waist and then groped around a bit until it found her hand and gave it a squeeze.

“Hello,” said the Doctor. “Bit dark in here, isn't it?”

“I've got a torch in the car,” she said. “Want me to-?”

“No need!” She could hear him scrabbling around in his pockets with his other hand until: “A-ha!” He clicked on a torch and she blinked furiously in the bright light. He turned it away from his face and to the walls, apparently unfazed by the sudden light.

They were in a small vestibule with a flight of stairs running both up onto the other floors and down into the basement on their right, and a door out to the rest of the building straight ahead. The Doctor shoved his torch into his mouth and pulled out the sonic screwdriver, listening to the beeps. Rose rolled her eyes and reached up to grab the torch for him.

“I've got a spare pair of hands, you know,” she said, with a laugh.

The Doctor beamed at her. “So you do!” he said, turning around as he listened to the beeping. To Rose, there appeared to be no difference at all in the sounds. The Doctor, of course, had no problem working out what it meant and he pointed to the floor.

“Down we go,” he said. “Into the basement. I hope Cybus Industries haven't left any nasty surprises.”

“I'm sure Kevin and his bugs'll have cleared them all out if there were,” muttered Rose, leading him down the stairs, keeping her hand in his. “But Torchwood did a pretty good clean up op, so I doubt we need to worry.”

“Hmm,” muttered the Doctor sceptically. Rose ignored him, knowing he'd needed Torchwood's help more than once since ending up here, no matter how much he pretended he didn't.

At the bottom of the stairs was another vestibule and Rose lowered the torch to ease the door open, peering out into a darkened corridor with a few exposed pipes and doors leading off at various intervals. Some of the electric lights were working and she clicked off the torch and shoved it into the Doctor's pocket as she crept into the corridor.

“That's the wrong pocket,” complained the Doctor. “Now I'll never be able to find it! _And_ it's squashing Malcolm.” Rose stared at him. “The giraffe,” he explained patiently.

Rose snorted with amusement. “The one Tony gave you?” she said, remembering a couple of months previously when, to the Doctor's disgust and horror, Jackie had made him visit the dentist for a check up. Tony had given him small, cuddly giraffe saying it was less scary if he had a friend. She felt a sudden burst of fondness for the Doctor. Nobody from Torchwood took small, cuddly giraffes called Malcolm with them when they dealt with alien invasions.

“You never know when-” He froze, mid step and Rose stopped too, drawing in a breath and listening. The corridor was silent, except... she could just barely catch an odd scratching and hissing.

Before she had time to think, the Doctor grabbed her and pulled her backwards and through a door in the side of the corridor. Years of travelling with him made her force her lips shut and not call out in shock. Inside, she quickly glanced around and determined they were in a cupboard. A second later, the Doctor flicked off the sonic screwdriver, plunging the room into darkness.

Cautiously, she stood a little straighter to make herself more comfortable, wobbling a bit as she tried not to move her feet for fear of kicking something. She reached forward to grab the Doctor to steady herself, as well as to try and work out what he was doing. He reached inside his pocket and pulled out... she felt along his arm to his hand and found a stethoscope.

He leaned forward, cheek pressing against hers and lips brushing her ear as he whispered, “Lk'ljks, outside.” She nodded, shivering a little at the feeling of his breath on her ear and wishing that, just once, they could end up stuck in a pitch black cupboard when the world _wasn't_ at stake.

The Doctor moved away, leaning to the side and listening through the door. Rose couldn't hear a thing - not that she would have been able to understand anything. That had been one of the biggest differences about working for Torchwood – not having the TARDIS to translate. Even after all the strange and wonderful things she'd seen with the Doctor, the creatures she faced at Torchwood were infinitely more _alien_ because she rarely understood a word they were saying. In that respect, Kevin was unusual.

Wanting to have some idea of what was going on, she reached up and gently placed her hand on the Doctor's face. She felt him frown as he listened and the edge of his tongue poked out of his mouth. Then his lips twitched into a smile, the tongue disappeared and he kissed the palm of her hand. She smiled too, appreciating it, even if it didn't give her much clue what he could hear.

But then the frown returned. “No...” he muttered. “You're not-” He froze. “Oops.”

Rose found herself being pushed backwards suddenly, and she staggered and nearly fell to the floor. The door flung open and the small amount of light from the corridor flooded in around the outline of two lk'ljks. They hissed in surprise.

The Doctor hissed in reply, raising his hands in the air. Rose stepped forward cautiously, looking over his shoulder and up at the lk'ljks.

“I've told them we'll come quietly,” the Doctor murmured. “They should know where Kevin is, after all.”

But then one of the lk'ljks hissed again, angrily this time, and raised one of its top limbs, claw ready to strike. The Doctor stumbled backwards, eyes widening in fear and surprise and Rose felt an all-too-familiar rush of panic. Before the bug could strike, she grabbed her gun and shot.

The first bullet cracked the hard exoskeleton of the lk'ljk and caused it to stagger backwards, limbs flailing. The second hit home – right through the head – and the creature collapsed against the wall.

“Tell the other one to-”

But it was too late. Enraged and shrieking, the second lk'ljk moved towards the cupboard door, limbs outstretched. The Doctor staggered back once more, but Rose ducked under his arm as he did so, allowing herself an unobstructed view of the creature. This time, her first shot hit the softer eye area and the lk'ljk fell forwards, still trying to reach her even as it died.

The Doctor grabbed her arm and pulled and she fell into him, crushed right against the back wall of the cupboard, the floor completely blocked by the corpse. It was only then, in the following silence as she leaned into the Doctor's arm, that she realised how quickly she was breathing. The adrenaline began to fade in the almost silence and her fear was replaced with relief.

“Well,” said the Doctor tightly, “there goes our chances of sneaking in, I suppose.”

“Sorry, I-” She broke off, shaking her head slightly. Was she sorry? She didn't think so. There'd been no alternative and a creature that size could easily have killed the Doctor.

The Doctor sucked in a breath. “I- You-” He stopped and turned to Rose with a shrug and a helpless look, as though he didn't quite know what to say. A moment's silence passed before he continued, admiration at war with disapproval in his gaze, “You saved us both. They were going to kill us on the spot. And now I _definitely_ need a chance to talk to Kevin!”

Before Rose could say anything else or push him and try to find out if he was saying what he was really thinking, he grabbed her hand and leapt over the body of the lk'ljk, turning left into the corridor and running down it. He skidded to a halt when another corridor branched off, pulling out the screwdriver and turning it on again, listening to the beeps before taking off down the corridor.

Barely seconds later, he stopped again, this time in front of a door, causing Rose to crash into him with a soft grunt.

“Might want to put that away,” he said, nodding to the gun she still held. “We want to look friendly, after all. And you can draw it fast enough, if need be.” She did as he suggested, clipping the safety on. The only reason she hadn't done it before was the speed at which he'd taken off. She felt like she was going to get a stitch and found herself vaguely wishing she'd not had so much turkey.

Christmas dinner seemed ages ago, though, she thought, as the Doctor pushed open the doors and strode into a large room. How quickly a normal, boring day could turn into this sort of thing still amazed her sometimes.

One corner had the chair and an old fashioned looking video recorder from the broadcast earlier, but thick cables ran from the camera to some complicated looking computers in the wall. The Doctor dropped Rose's hand and hurried over to them only to be interrupted by a voice on the other side of the room.

“Well aren't you two interesting?”

Rose turned sharply to see Kevin. He was alone, which surprised her. She'd expected him to be flanked by a few lk'ljks for protection. After all, he was an inch or two shorter than the Doctor and he didn't seem to be armed. Still, waving a gun at people and threatening them wasn't really a good idea to try as first resort, so instead she glanced around for any lk'ljks that might be hiding in the room.

“Interesting?” said the Doctor, with a smile. “Us? Nah, not at all. Just a bit clever. We're not the interesting ones in this room.”

“You still managed to find me, and remarkably quickly, too,” said Kevin. “A planet with this technology? You're way off! Tracking down the signal and following it here was more than I expected of anyone.”

Rose snorted derisively and Kevin turned and raised an eyebrow at her. “Just for once,” she said, “it'd be nice if the super-intelligent alien invader of the month _didn't_ spend half an hour going on about how... how... _primitive_ this planet is.”

Kevin's grin widened. “I'll spare you that, then. Since this is your last half hour or so, it hardly seems fair to bore you. But tell me, though, who are you?”

“I'm the Doctor and this is Rose,” said the Doctor. “And who are you, Kevvy-boy?”

“It's not worth telling you.”

“Try me.”

Kevin spat out a long string of syllables which Rose's mind refused to remember but merely caused the Doctor to raise an eyebrow.

“Ooh, watch out, Rose,” he said. “He's got six foot long tentacles under that disguise!”

Rose stared at Kevin, who waved innocently.

“Is he like the Slitheen?” she asked at last, stepping backwards further away from Kevin and turning to the Doctor.

“Nope, it's a bit more complicated than that. Closer to a sort of biological Chameleon Circuit, oddly enough. Although not nearly as good, of course.”

Kevin folded his arms. “And who are you, who knows so much?” he said. “I did a quick scan, when you got here. Nice wheels by the way. Very... primitive-” He winked at Rose, who glared, deciding she rather wanted to smack him, tentacles or not. “She's human, but you're not. You're something else. Well, you're half human, anyway. Bet your mum and dad were an odd couple.”

“Oh, you don't know the half of it,” replied the Doctor, with a shrug. “I'm the Doctor, and for the purposes of this argument, you might as well consider me human because this planet's my home and I'm not going to let you destroy it.”

“Oh yes?” said Kevin, sounding amused. “You planning to disable the bomb, then?”

“That was the general plan,” said the Doctor, scratching one of his sideburns. “Unless you want to do it for me?”

Kevin laughed. “Ooh, this I have to see,” he said. “It's not like I left it lying around _here_ , did I?”

The Doctor blinked and Rose felt her heart sink. She supposed the idea that the bomb was in the same place Kevin was, since he wouldn't be affected, had been too much to hope for.

“I had to put a few layers of deception on the signal,” continued Kevin, “then you'd think you were onto something good, and come and find me, instead of chasing down where the bomb actually is. Only people smart enough to disarm the bomb would be smart enough to work out where I was broadcasting from, after all. So you came right here, just where I want you. Now you can't stop the bomb and I get the joy of meeting you and killing you! And just the two of you! I don't know whether to be disappointed that this is going to be so easy or not.”

“What's in it for you?” demanded Rose. “Why are you doing this?” She could feel the slightly comforting weight of the gun strapped to her belt, but she had the feeling it would be no use against someone who could apparently change shape and hide tentacles like he could.

“Oh, you know, the usual,” he said, with a shrug. “A nice army of lk'ljks to call my own. I can take a bunch of them back home and deal with the... _problems_ there.”

“So it's not just my planet you want to destroy, then?” muttered Rose darkly. “At least it's not _personal_.”

Kevin chuckled. “I like you,” he said. “For a primitive, hairless monkey type, anyway,” he added with a wrinkle of his nose. “How do you live like this?”

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the Doctor easing his way towards the computer, making use of the fact that Kevin's attention was on her. Better keep it that way, then, she decided.

“And now a tentacle monster's calling me ugly,” she said. “This is not my day.”

“Don't knock the tentacles,” said Kevin, brushing imaginary lint off one of his shoulders. “They're useful. Oh, and you might want to remember how many eyes I've got, Doctor,” he added. “I can see what you're doing without turning to look.”

“Yup!” said the Doctor, cheerily. “I know. But I can still see the screen from here and if I just do this-” He pointed the sonic at it and Rose saw a flurry of images cross the screens, far too quickly for her to read. “Now I know where the bomb is!” He pulled a face. “Did you have to? There are nicer places to hide things!”

“Doesn't matter,” said Kevin. “There's no way you can escape. I'll just kill you and you know it. Although-” He glanced at the sonic screwdriver in the Doctor's hand. “I admit it, I'm impressed. I didn't anticipate that. I've not see one of them before.”

“You won't have done,” said the Doctor, with a disarming smile. “Can we go now? I've got a bomb to disarm, after all.”

Kevin was at the Doctor's side in the time it took Rose to blink, twisting his arm behind his back to hold him in place. Instinctively, Rose stepped forward, but the Doctor shook his head, grimacing a little in pain. She forced herself to stop, glancing around the room for something that could help her. Kevin had moved far too quickly to shoot and even if she tried, she could easily end up shooting the Doctor instead.

But he was caught. And from the look on his face, Kevin was hurting him. Swallowing the lump in her throat, she stared resolutely forward, trying to look impassive and wishing she didn't feel quite so helpless.

“The interesting thing about my disguises,” said Kevin, addressing Rose, “is just how much strength is maintained, even if it looks as though this arm of mine could snap under no force at all.” He turned back to the Doctor and smiled again, this time more cruelly. “Want me to demonstrate just how easily breakable a human arm should be?”

“No!” She spoke and took a step forward without thinking.

“Well you could do that,” reasoned the Doctor, keeping his voice level, “and I'm sure you'd enjoy it a lot. But that won't really help you stay alive.” Rose could hear it was hurting him but he was pretending it wasn't, same as always.

Kevin hesitated and Rose let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding. “Are you threatening me?”

Perhaps he thought the Doctor was disguised as something the same way he was? She wasn't sure.

“Me? Threaten? Don't be daft,” said the Doctor pleasantly. “Do I look threatening? I'm too skinny to threaten anyone.” He broke off and frowned. “I think I can blame Donna for saying _that_ ,” he added. “Anyway, where was I? Ah yes, your life.”

“Get on with it,” snapped Kevin, clearly feeling wrong-footed.

Was the Doctor bluffing and playing for time? Rose didn't think so, but she never knew with him. But what could she do?

“Out there in the corridor,” said the Doctor. “You must have been following on the CCTV cameras. You saw Rose shoot the lk'ljks, but you couldn't hear the conversation they were having _before_ they died, could you?”

Kevin narrowed his eyes. “You're lying.”

The Doctor hissed something in the same language as the lk'ljks. “You're smarter than them, aren't you?” he said. “This stupid bomb is your work, nothing they're capable of. So they keep quiet for now and let you help them take over the world and gain another planet. Then they get rid of you. They coded the bomb to your DNA as well as any human as soon as they worked out how. And even if that doesn't work, they've got back up plans.”

“Why should I believe that?” snarled Kevin.

But he looked like he just might. Rose didn't even know if what the Doctor said was true or not (although she was beginning to think it probably was) but all he really needed was to plant some doubts. That could be enough to turn this in their favour.

"Go on," wheedled the Doctor. "You believe me, you know you do. You're not stupid. A race like the lk'ljks? Submit to someone? You know it's too good to be true."

"How does that help you? I might just as well kill you both now and deal with the bomb myself."

The Doctor winced as Kevin twisted his arm even further and something inside Rose snapped. If this Kevin was planning on trying to kill the Doctor, there was no way she was just going to stand there and watch. She strode up to the Doctor and Kevin, drew back her arm and punched Kevin in the face.

Kevin stared at her, mouth open. He hadn't been at all affected by being thumped (the sudden pain in her arm suggested it had hurt her more than him) but he hadn't been expecting that at all. It had really been quite satisfying. _And_ Kevin seemed to have loosened his grip on the Doctor since he was no longer wincing in pain. The Doctor looked at Rose with wide eyes, clearly impressed.

"You hit me," said Kevin, still looking boggled. "Nobody hits me!" He seemed to shake himself out of it. "That's still not going to save you, you know."

Before he could do anything further, the door to the room burst open and five lk'ljks entered, spreading out and circling Kevin, hissing at each other. Kevin's surprise allowed the Doctor to shrug out of his hold.

"Whoops, they must have heard me telling you," he said cheerily to Kevin.

Kevin glared at him and turned to address the leader of the lk'ljks in the same hissing language.

"Ooh, now everyone's getting annoyed," muttered the Doctor.

"Never mind that!" said Rose. "Let's get out of here!"

She grabbed his hand, sprinting for the door, swerving away from the closest lk'ljk as she did so, the Doctor right behind her. The lk'ljk hissed at her and made to move towards her, but the Doctor put on an extra burst of speed, forcing both of them forwards and under the sharp claw.

"They like us about as much as they like Kev," he explained as they slipped out of the door and sprinted down the corridor. "Two of their mates are dead down there, after all. Better put some distance in between us and them!"

Instead of turning back the way they came, he veered off down another corridor.

"The bomb's in the sewers," he said. "There's a way through down here. We should be able to get there in time if we run!"

Rose sighed. "Why can't they put it in, I don't know, Hyde Park or something? Somewhere pretty?"

The Doctor laughed. "Come on," he said, grinning. "Quick trip down the sewers. Should be marvelous fun."

He pulled out the sonic screwdriver and used it to unlock a large grate in the floor, down which Rose could see a grimy looking ladder and a tunnel at the bottom. The Doctor perched on the edge and lowered himself down, letting go of the edges and jumping down without using the ladder, landing with a splash.

Mentally saying goodbye to her boots, Rose copied him, splashing him as well as herself when she landed, and wrinkled her nose.

He grabbed her hand again. "Onwards?" he said, shooting a winning smile at her.

"Hurry up then," she said, grinning back despite it all. "But you're doing the washing this week."


	2. Chapter 2

Ten minutes later, Rose drew in a pained breath, pressing her hand against the stitch in her side. Christmas dinner was just _not_ a good idea before chasing down a bomb planted by aliens intent on destroying the Earth's population and setting up a bug colony. The turkey and stuffing sat heavily in her stomach and Rose slowed her pace, trying to keep her breaths even and doing her best not to be ill.

“ _Rose_!”

She jumped at the Doctor’s voice, and noticed that he’d pulled quite a distance ahead of her. He disappeared around a corner. Rose put on a burst of speed to catch up—and then immediately wished she hadn’t.

Christmas dinner was definitely on the way up.

She turned the corner and then braced her hand against a pipe and leaned over, stomach churning. Up ahead, the Doctor stopped and began slugging back to her, speaking urgently.

“Rose, as far as we know, that bomb is set to go off in ten minutes. If we don’t get there before then, it’s going to poison the whole world.”

“I _know_ ,” Rose said. “You go on up ahead.”

He frowned at her, seeming to notice her discomfort for the first time. “You all right?”

“Fine,” she snapped. “It’s just not a bright idea to run three clicks after turkey and stuffing, yeah?”

“Oh,” said the Doctor. “I hadn’t noticed. It’s probably my Time Lord biology. I can digest food at a higher rate than—”

“Yeah, yeah,” Rose said. “Listen, you go on. I’m just gonna be… sick.”

She leaned over, holding her hair back with one hand, when something grabbed her from behind. She shrieked in surprise and she vaguely registered the Doctor springing forward and yelling, “You leave her alone! LET HER GO RIGHT NOW!”

It was never good when the Doctor shouted, Rose thought, swallowing past the bile rising in her throat. A giant claw wrapped around her neck and yanked her backwards. Rose’s feet slipped against the sewer’s slippery surface and she fell back against the being that had taken her hostage. The _lk'ljks_ , she realized with a shiver of fear.

The Doctor was still yelling. “LET HER GO, I’M WARNING YOU, YOU DO _NOT_ WANT TO MESS WITH ME—”

Rose tuned him out and tried to struggle out of the lk'ljk’s grip. She tried to reach for the gun still attached to her belt, but the lk'ljk anticipated her, one of its claws swiping at the gun. A moment later, Rose heard it clatter to the ground. The lk'ljk hissed something in her ear that she couldn’t understand and tightened its arm around Rose’s neck. Rose choked and she pushed at the lk'ljk’s giant claw to no avail. Finally, vision darkening, she stopped struggling and went limp in the lk'ljk’s arms. The alien relaxed his hold and Rose coughed, gasping in huge mouthfuls of air.

She looked around her, desperately trying to get her bearings. There were at least three lk'ljks—the one that had grabbed her, and two on each of its sides.

The Doctor stopped yelling, his face unusually pale even for him. One of his hands twitched next to his pocket like he was debating whether or not he had time to reach for the sonic screwdriver before the lk'ljk hurt her—or worse.

His eyes flicked over to meet hers. “Go,” she croaked out. “Don’t worry about me.”

The Doctor shook his head and opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He clamped it shut, but didn’t move, staring at her with wide eyes.

“If that bomb goes off, the whole planet dies.” Tears welled in her eyes, but she swallowed past them. “You’ve got to go.”

He didn’t move; he just continued staring at her. Rose felt a tear roll past her cheek, but she pressed her lips together and stared back at him bravely, silently urging him on.

The lk'ljk jerked her backwards and then said something in their hissing and jumbled tongue. The Doctor’s eyes darkened and he glared at them before responding in the same hissing language, his tone quiet and urgent. Rose found it more chilling than when he’d been shouting.

“What did they say?” she asked.

“That they’ll kill you if I go.”

She tried to smile and couldn’t quite manage it. “Course. And what’d you say?”

“That it would be a very, very big mistake on their part.”

Rose felt a surge of affection for him sweep through her. She tried struggling against her captor again, but nothing happened. She slumped in defeat.

“Doctor,” she said, “if you don’t stop that bomb, I’m going to be dead anyway.”

The Doctor dragged his gaze back to hers, something deep and indefinable in his eyes. “I can’t. I can’t save the city and lose you. It’d mean nothing.”

“Don’t say that.” She paused. “Doctor, _please_. You’ve got to.”

He hesitated and then turned his attention to the lk'ljks. He hissed something in their dialect and then turned around, taking off down the sewer again.

Rose barely had time to register that this might be the last time she ever saw him before the lk'ljk clenched her elbow with its spare claw and pulled. There was a _crack_ and Rose bit down on her lip to hold back her cry, causing it to split, but she couldn’t quite muffle her whimper of pain. The coppery taste of blood filling her mouth, and she jerked her head around to look at her arm. It looked... weird--all bent out of shape and hanging in the wrong direction. Her stomach churned, and she hurriedly turned away. Small moans of pain passed through her lips and she clamped her mouth together, trying not to alert the Doctor.

It was no good. Down the sewer tunnel, the Doctor stopped, his back still to them. Then, seeming to come to a decision, he whirled back around and stalked towards them. He reached into his pocket and emerged with the sonic screwdriver, face tight and furious.

The lk'ljk pulled on Rose’s elbow again and she cried out, the colour draining from her face. The lk'ljks hissed something at the Doctor, but he didn’t stop his stride towards them.

“Oh, I wouldn’t hurt the one thing still keeping you alive,” he said before responding to the lk'ljks in their clipped, hissing tone. "It's your choice," he finished, in English, and Rose realized it was for her benefit, not theirs. "We can contact your homeworld and find you another planet."

They hissed back at him, and the one holding onto Rose began to shake, its free claw gesturing wildly in the air. Rose watched with a hazy, hooded gaze, only aware of the heavy, pounding pain in her arm. She shook her head, trying to clear it. Any moment now that bomb would go off, poisoning the entire world, and it would be over for all of them.

 _He shouldn’t have come back_ , she thought angrily, thinking of her mum, dad, and Tony, tucked up at home, waiting for them to get back so they could open their presents. The Doctor had just killed them. With some shame, she found herself thinking that the Time Lord Doctor would have done it—gone on without her to save the city.

The lk'ljk holding Rose jerked her backward, his claw arm pressing, pressing against her chest. Her arms and legs flailed instinctively and she heard something in her chest snap. She cried out.

"Stop it, _stop it right now_ ," the Doctor called, and then continued hissing in the lk'ljk language.

They hissed something back at him, but the lk'ljk didn't release his fierce grip on Rose. Finally, the Doctor took a few steps back and lowered the sonic screwdriver. The lk'ljk relaxed his hold on Rose. She released a sharp, gasping breath.

"I warned you," said the Doctor, and his face was cold, so unlike the soft warmth Rose had grown so used to seeing in his eyes. "You had one chance. Let her go or—”

He never finished his sentence. Instead, he pointed the sonic screwdriver at the pipe jutting out of the wall. The sonic screwdriver whirred to life and a moment later the pipe split, water gushing out of it and hitting Rose and the lk'ljks in the chest. She sputtered as the cold water slammed into her. It felt like a giant weight was being pressed into her, but the lk'ljk’s hold on her loosened. She reacted immediately, throwing her good elbow back into its armoured chest and kicking backwards at him with her legs.

The claw around her neck twitched and then began to fall away. Rose opened her mouth, sucking in a gulp of water before sputtering. The pain in her arm flared to life again and she squeezed her eyes shut, blackness beckoning.

Then a hand wrapped around her good arm, yanking her to her feet. Rose came back to awareness with a jerk and coughed out the rest of the water.

“Come on, _come on_ ,” said a familiar voice. “Rose, stay with me.”

“Doctor,” she said in relief, eyes opening. She staggered, and his arm slid around her waist, coaxing her forward.

She leaned against him and he spoke urgently into her ear, “Rose, we have to get out of here. You’ve got to keep moving. I’m sorry. I am.”

“Right, yeah, I’m fine,” she said. Her injured arm hung limply at her side, useless and unmoving. She blinked at it, and then remembered. “Doctor, what about the city—the bomb, it’s going to go off and—”

“Shhh,” he said. “I contacted Torchwood. They’re going at it from another point. They won’t know the technology like I do, but I’d give them—oh, a sixty/forty chance of stopping it?”

“Those odds could be better.”

The Doctor ignored her. “Come on, we’ve got to get you out of here.” He looked around, gaze falling on a ladder that led to the surface. He glanced back at Rose hesitantly.

“Yeah, there’s no way I’m gonna be able to climb that,” Rose said. “And anyway, we’ve got to keep moving. We’ve got to get to that bomb, yeah?”

“We’ve got to get you to the nearest hospital,” the Doctor said. “Torchwood can handle it.”

“Since when? You hate letting Torchwood do anything on its own,” Rose shot back. She stopped moving and pulled away from him, breathing hard and struggling to ignore the pain in her arm. “I’m not leaving.”

The Doctor looked frustrated, but he glanced behind him, frowning as the sounds of scuffling claws against the ground got louder.

“Well, we can’t stand here,” he said. “They’re slow, but they’ve got massive amounts of stored up energy. We have to put as much distance between us as we can.”

He reached for her hand, body tense and worried as he urged her on.

\--------------------

“Ooh, look at that,” said the Doctor, as they entered the cavern where the bomb was hidden. He bounded up to the bomb and let go of Rose's hand to put on his glasses. “That is _fearsome_ technology.”

Rose blinked at the bomb doubtfully. It looked like a giant piece of neon green Play-Doh that someone had slapped together and accidentally abandoned. The Doctor circled it, making low, appreciative noises in his throat.

“Ma’am,” said the closest Torchwood expert. “We’ve managed to stall the bomb, but we have yet to find a way to shut it down permanently.”

“That’s because you didn’t have me,” said the Doctor, head popping up on the other side of the bomb. He waved the sonic screwdriver around and then leaned forward to study the readings. “Fascinating.”

Rose almost laughed, but a sudden, sharp pain in her chest reminded her that it wasn’t such a great idea. The Doctor glanced over at her, face tightening in worry. “Rose?”

“I’m fine,” she said. He watched her hesitantly, and she suddenly realized that he wouldn’t be able to focus with her standing next to him. She forced a smile. “I’m gonna go keep watch. You work on shutting that thing down.”

He looked like he might argue, but then he nodded and returned to the bomb. Rose edged to the cavern’s entrance. The Doctor had given her his jacket to use as a makeshift sling, and she kept her arm cradled close to her body, gritting her teeth against the steady waves of pain that hit her.

She glanced behind her, relieved to find the Doctor completely focused on the bomb. She was reluctant to tell him she now suspected cracked ribs in addition to her broken arm, but the fact was, she didn’t think she’d be able to stay standing for much longer. Her head felt like someone had opened it up and shoved it full of cotton, and each breath was a pained struggle.

She clenched her jaw and leaned heavily against the nearest wall. She just needed to make sure he disabled that bomb. She could hold out that long.

Time passed. Rose wasn’t sure how long. Every few minutes, Rose heard the Doctor cry “Ha!” or “Nearly there!” and the circling Torchwood experts all jumped at his outbursts. She felt her eyes drift shut, somehow soothed by the scene behind her—they’d done this millions of times before, and the Doctor always came through in the end. She could let her eyes rest for a bit, just until he was finished.

Her head lolled heavily to the side, cheek pressed against the cold, wet cement. That’s when she heard it—that click, click, _clicking_ from before. _Bugs_ , she thought, some sort of fear getting through the heavy fog in her head.

 _Bugs._

Rose’s head jerked up, arm giving a furious twitch of pain as she did so. She stumbled backwards, almost falling over her feet. When did her legs get so heavy?

The shadow of one antenna appeared in the sewer’s corridor. Rose whirled around, eyes falling on the Doctor. His tongue was out in concentration, sonic screwdriver near the top of the bomb.

“Doctor,” she said. “They’re here. The lk'ljks.”

He looked up, sonic screwdriver still buzzing in his hand. His gaze was unfocused as he thought. Finally, he turned to the Torchwood expert on his right.

“Give me your gun.”

“What?”

“Just _do_ it,” he said.

The Torchwood expert glanced in Rose’s direction and she nodded. “Whatever he wants, Henry.”

The expert reluctantly handed the gun over to the Doctor, and he promptly began poking at it with the sonic screwdriver.

There was a spark and the Torchwood expert made a grunting noise in his throat. “Oi, what do you think you’re doing—”

“Hold on, hold on,” said the Doctor, putting up one hand to shush him. “Nearly there—”

The gun sparked again, jumping in the Doctor’s hand. He made a hum of approval and then handed it back to the Torchwood expert. “All set.” He turned to address the rest of them and raised his voice. “Everyone else—find a dry place to stand.”

Everyone stared at him blankly. “You heard him,” said Rose, who was used to the Doctor’s strange commands by now. “Find a dry spot. Do it.”

“Um, Ma’am? We’re standing in a sewer—”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” said the Doctor, waving a hand dismissively. He bent down to study the gun he’d just altered with the sonic screwdriver, and then fixed his gaze on the Torchwood expert. “Listen, the lk'ljks are a genetically created race, bred with the single purpose of serving their leader. Their minds are linked, connected by a low-level telepathic field—”

“Oh!” Rose called out. “Like the Ood!”

The Doctor sent her a quick grin. “Exactly. Except unlike the Ood, each tribe of lk'ljks has one leader who controls the telepathic link. Normally he's protected, but right now they're low on numbers so he's out here getting his hands dirty and looking for us!” He turned back to the Torchwood expert. “Henry, is it? Well, Henry—” The Doctor leaned in closer before tilting his head towards the three lk'ljks creeping towards them. Their angry hissing made it clear they hadn’t forgotten the Doctor’s earlier attack. He pointed towards an unremarkable looking lk'ljks at the back of the three. “You hit one that one there right now and you hit them all. ”

Rose frowned, suddenly uncomfortable with where this was heading. “Hold on. Does that mean that if we kill one of them, we’ll… we’ll be wiping them all out?”

The Doctor glanced at her. “No. But it’ll hurt.” Then he _really_ looked at her, eyes suddenly fearful. “Rose—” He was by her side in an instant, hands falling to her waist and none-too-gently pulling her backwards. “What did I say about finding a dry spot?”

“Oh,” said Rose, stumbling and using his arm as a crutch, “I hadn’t noticed.”

There was a clicking noise, and the Doctor cricked his head around, calling, “Now, Henry!”

Henry pulled the trigger on the gun. A beam of light particles shot out, hitting the back lk'ljk in the chest. The lk'ljk jerked and then screeched, body beginning to spasm as electric bolts snapped and cracked against his body. The two other lk'ljks joined his screams, their bodies beginning to jerk and twitch in the same way.

“What’s happening?” Rose whispered. The light hurt her eyes, but she found herself unable to turn away from their agonized screaming.

“They’re being electrocuted,” said the Doctor dully, watching the scene before him impassively. “With the amount of water I sprayed them with earlier… well, it’d be a miracle if they survived. _And_ it should slow the rest of the colony down.”

“Doctor—”

“I didn’t have a choice, Rose.”

She drew in a sharp breath, the pain in her chest making her wheeze. It was an effort to get words out and a bead of sweat broke out on her forehead. “Why? Because they hurt me? Or ‘cos of the bomb?”

"I gave them a choice," he said quietly.

It didn't exactly answer her question, but Rose reckoned that if something hurt the Doctor, she'd react similarly.

The three lk'ljks finished jerking and then fell to the ground, smoke rising from their burned bodies. Henry glanced from his gun to the charred remains of the lk'ljks, looking like he might be sick.

Rose’s vision swam, her legs beginning to shake. She unconsciously reached for the Doctor, hand closing on empty air.

“Right, then,” she heard him say, “now, to shut this thing off…”

“Doctor—” she began, mouth forming the word, but nothing coming out. She pursed her lips and struggled to take in a steady gulp of air. Her lungs felt like they were on fire. She tried again. “Doctor.”

This time, he looked over. “What’s wrong?”

Her mouth opened soundlessly, and she swayed, stumbling over her feet. The Doctor’s eyes widened and he rushed towards her to break her fall.

He caught her before she hit the ground. “That, Rose Tyler, was dangerously close to a swoon,” he said, voice light, but his eyes were worried.

She smiled fondly at him. “Don’t tell my mum,” she tried to say. And then passed out.

\--------------------

Rose came-to hearing the Doctor's voice, high-pitched and strained. "The right sixth and seventh ribs are fractured as well as the ulna and radius..."

"Sir," replied an unfamiliar voice, "we're going to have to take x-rays to know that for sure."

"Backwards, primitive...! I'm _telling_ you what's wrong with her! You people and your radiation to see things and...and _poking_ things into people! And don't get me started on cutting people open; it's practically the Middle Ages!"

"She's not going into surgery..."

"Of _course_ she's not going into surgery! Why would you even say that?"

"Sir, I really should be talking to a family member."

"That's _me_. Her...person you should most definitely be talking to about any sort of problems - big, medium, small, tiny. If you want to change her socks, _I_ need to be asked."

Rose tried to laugh and mock him about the socks, but nothing was coming out.

"Oh my God." That was her mum. "What's happened to her?"

Rose finally managed to open her eyes, and the Doctor and her mother swooped in on either side of her.

"Hello," Rose said softly.

"Hey there," the Doctor said, his eyes intense. "Welcome back."

"Did you fix the bomb?"

"Piece of cake. Another team found Kevin...or what's left of him, and the rest of the lk'ljk seem to be surrendering on their own. Their only hope to take over gone, they just want off this planet now. You don't have to think about it."

"How are you, sweetheart?" Jackie smoothed Rose's hair.

"All right, Mum. Don't worry."

"I bloody well will worry when I see my daughter banged up and in the hospital. Someone needs to tell me what's wrong with her right now!"

"She has two broken ribs..." started the Doctor.

"Ma'am, we're going to need to take some x-rays to find out what's wrong with her," the medical doctor interrupted.

The Doctor and the doctor glared at each other.

Jackie looked at them both before saying, "Just tell me what's wrong, Doctor. Not you," she said looking at the unfamiliar man. "You," she said to the Doctor.

"She has two broken ribs and her arm is broken in two places near the elbow. Her arm will need to be set and her ribs will have to heal on their own. All of which would have been quick and easy if I had the TARDIS."

"Bad luck this happening now instead of just a bit later," Rose said, attempting a weak smile.

"She passed out from the pain," the Doctor continued, "and not from a concussion or anything else."

"Did not. I was just resting my eyes. Mum, you should get back to Tony."

"Oh, it'd be fine for me to leave you like this," she replied sarcastically.

"It's still Christmas, yeah?" Rose looked around to nods. "Go home and let him open his presents and eat too many sweets. It's better than sitting around here watching me get an x-ray..." Rose watched as the Doctor shot the other doctor another glare. "...and whatever else, and then his Christmas will be gone. Please, Mum."

Jackie reached for Rose's good hand, and smoothed back her hair with her other hand. "Tony can wait, sweetheart. Christmas isn't about presents. It's about all of us being together. The important thing is that you're okay."

The Doctor hovered behind Jackie, looking like he very much wanted to be the one holding Rose's hand and petting her hair. Rose felt a pang. She wanted to be close to him, too, after what they'd just gone through.

"I know, but--"

"I'm just going to stay right here," Jackie said, dropping into a chair next to Rose's bed and wriggling until she got comfortable. "I'll be right next to you the whole time, sweetheart."

The Doctor emitted an audible sigh, and went back over to annoy the medical doctor, probably to release his frustration. The medical doctor twitched when he saw him coming and attempted unsuccessfully to back out of the room. The Doctor blocked his path and reached for the clipboard he was holding.

"Pah. Rubbish," said the Doctor, fishing out his glasses to read the clipboard. And then, "I'll have to test these drugs before you give them to her..."

Rose began to think the Doctor might get escorted out by security before they managed to get a proper hello. She turned back to Jackie. "Mum," she said and squeezed her hand. "I love you so, so much, but I... I think I need to be with the Doctor right now."

There was a moment of heavy silence. The Doctor glanced over, still holding the medical doctor's clipboard, and tried not to look too hopeful.

For a horrible second, Rose thought Jackie might cry, but then she pulled herself together and forced a smile. "Of course you do." She leaned over and kissed Rose's cheek, smoothing her hand over her hair one more time before standing. "Give us a call when you're ready to go home. I'll have Pete send over a car."

"Right," Rose said, "thanks."

Jackie's eyes flickered over to the Doctor with what Rose recognized as her "this isn't over" look. The Doctor shifted uncomfortably, and handed the clipboard back to the medical doctor in an attempt to look busy.

Rose could sense the Doctor's relief as soon as Jackie left. He was by Rose's side in an instant, dropping down into the chair Jackie vacated. He reached for Rose's good hand, his other hand going to her face, fingers tracing her nose and cheeks before brushing her hair back.

"Hi," Rose said, leaning into his touch and smiling. "How're you? You okay?"

"Yeah," he said. Then he shook himself, and glanced at her injuries. Rose could practically _see_ his brain cataloguing each of her various hurts. "Well, no. Not really."

Rose squeezed his fingers. "I'm glad you're here."

The medical doctor cleared his throat and they both looked over in confusion. Rose had almost forgotten he was still there.

"Listen," Rose said. "Just... get me the consent form. For x-rays, surgery--whatever."

"You don't need surgery," the Doctor muttered. " _Or_ x-rays for that matter. I can--"

Rose squeezed his hand to get him to shut up, and the medical doctor nodded, looking relieved that he no longer had to deal with the Doctor.

They stayed quiet for a few minutes after the medical doctor left, just gazing at each other. The Doctor stroked her hair, and she moved her thumb in circles over the back of his hand.

Finally, the Doctor broke the silence. "Such fragile things, these human bodies."

Rose smiled sadly and decided to address the topic they were both avoiding. "We both killed today."

"I know."

"We had to, though. They were trying to kill us-- _and_ every other person on the planet."

The Doctor's hand stilled in her hair. "They hurt you," he said quietly. "They hurt you to get at me, and that-- _that's_ the one thing I couldn't allow." He paused. "I wanted to kill them."

Rose nodded. "I felt the same way." She smiled at him. "I punched Kevin."

The Doctor grinned at the memory. "You did."

"But I dunno... it was like something in me snapped. I couldn't watch him hurt you and do nothing."

"Rose..." he began, frowning in that baffled way he did when he didn't think he was worth the fuss.

She gripped his hand tighter. "Is it so wrong, though? Feeling that way? We're not mindless drones, Doctor. What's the point in saving the world if there's no one important enough to save it for?"

The Doctor looked thoughtful and he pondered her words carefully before saying, "Time Lords were discouraged from forming close relationships with others, you know-- _especially_ with primitive species."

As always, Rose felt her interest piqued whenever the Doctor talked about his Time Lord past. She decided to ignore his "primitive" dig, and asked, "How come?"

He shrugged. "To be that dependent on another person, so easily swayed by emotions and manipulations... well, I suppose it was seen as a weakness."

Rose snorted. "Then Time Lords were stupid."

The Doctor blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"We're _not_ weaker together," Rose said. "Never have been."

The Doctor looked doubtful. Rose tried not to feel hurt; after all, it had to be difficult for him to go against centuries of Time Lord instincts. But before he could say anything, a nurse poked her head into the room. "Miss Tyler?"

"Oh, what do you want _now_?" the Doctor demanded.

There was a nervous throat clearing, and then the nurse said, "Are you ready for your x-rays? The doctor doesn't want to leave you untreated for much longer."

The x-ray process went fairly quickly, probably because the technician refused to let the Doctor anywhere near the room or the equipment. She saw the doctor once more, who quickly gave the exact diagnosis the Doctor had. He then set her arm in a cast without once looking at the Doctor, which was fairly impressive considering how closely the Doctor was watching the whole process.

A nurse came in bearing medication - a relief since whatever they'd given her earlier was starting to wear off. The Doctor snatched the pill from the tray and licked it, frowning for a moment and then handing it to Rose, earning a bewildered look from the nurse.

By the time they got into the Vitex car, Rose was already feeling groggy. Leaning against the Doctor's shoulder, she watched the Christmas lights blur by in the now-peaceful city. It was the last thing she remembered that night.

\--------------------

Rose woke up to a dull pain. The drugs were still affecting her, but even in her fuzzy state she could swear that she had some extra limbs, which couldn't be right. She shifted slightly and determined the extra limbs probably belonged to the Doctor.

"Do you need something?" he whispered.

Most definitely belonged to the Doctor.

"'m fine. What...time?"

"Oh, it's about two in the afternoon."

"Lazy."

"Yup. That's me. Old lazy bones, sleeping the day away." He brushed her hair away from her face.

Rose moved and groaned.

"That was productive," the Doctor chided. "I asked if you needed anything. And I'm _quite_ good at fetching. Want your bunny slippers? I'll track them down! With carrots, if needed."

"I don't have bunny slippers."

"Yeah, you do."

"No, I don't. You do."

"Hold on, those are _my_ slippers?"

"Um...yes? What'd you think?"

"I thought I was using yours. You know, as part of that whole clothes-swapping thing we're doing? You wear my shirts and so I thought the bunny slippers would be a good trade... Those are really my bunny slippers?"

"Well, Mum gave them to me a while back, but I've never worn them. You have, and so they're yours."

"I'm not sure I like this. Do extremely manly men own bunny slippers?"

"Yes." Rose attempted to sit up and winced.

"Right. Were you not here during the whole of the bunny slipper conversation? And me fetching things?"

"Yeah, but...I need to pee."

"Oh," the Doctor said solemnly. "Do you need me to hold your hair?"

Rose snorted out a laugh that she regretted. "What? That makes no sense. Just give me a push up off the bed and I'm sure I can do the rest."

The Doctor looked skeptical.

"You are _not_ helping me pee. I'm sorry. I love you, but no. I can most definitely do this on my own."

In the bathroom she unfortunately caught sight of herself in the mirror. Dark circles under her eyes, pale skin, possessed hair, cracked lips. Lovely. It wasn't as if the Doctor had never seen her first thing in the morning. It wasn't that. But she looked just plain bad. And she felt grimy - even though she'd been cleaned up, she hadn't had a proper shower since the sewers.

Rose turned on the tap in the shower to get the hot water going, thankful that the cast on her arm was waterproof. The door immediately opened and a pair of brown eyes blinked at her.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna drown. I just want to be clean."

"Do you need--" he started.

Rose cut him off. "I can wash myself," she said stubbornly.

The Doctor tilted his head to the side slightly, and then surprised her by hopping up on the counter, sitting cross-legged. "This I've gotta see."

She gaped at him for a moment and then she started fumbling with the buttons on her nightshirt. "Lamest striptease ever," Rose said and then chuckled as she struggled with the first button.

The Doctor sat tight-lipped with his hands folded.

After the accomplishment of the second button, Rose realized she'd soon be stuck. There was a baggy t-shirt underneath the nightshirt, and there was no way she would be able to get it off without help. Her hand dropped in resignation.

"Need help?" the Doctor asked softly.

Rose nodded with a somewhat jutted-out chin.

"You are one of the most stubborn people I've ever met," the Doctor said affectionately as he undid the rest of her buttons. "And that's saying something."

"You should talk. I'd hate to think what you'd be like if the situation was reversed."

"What do you mean? I'd be the perfect little lamb! No trouble at all! Quiet as a mouse, waiting patiently for my mushy peas and my sponge bath!"

They both laughed, which Rose found was less painful to do when standing up.

"You know," Rose said, "that probably really will be us someday. Well, not the quiet part, but getting old and stuff. Waiting for mushy peas."

"Yeah." The Doctor slowly smiled. "It's a bit brilliant, isn't it?"

She thought she knew what about it he found brilliant, and she had to agree. "Yeah."

The shower felt wonderful. Even washing her hair with one hand felt wonderful. The Doctor had offered to help again, but Rose refused. Under normal circumstances it could have been fun, but right now she was feeling too helpless for her taste.

"Jackie dropped off some turkey a bit ago," the Doctor said loudly over the sound of the running water. "And a whole pot of vegetables. Oh, and a pie. Some bread too. And I think she might have put condiments in little containers, which is a bit odd, don't you think? And she cleaned. I couldn't stop her."

"Complete with a guilt trip?"

The Doctor was silent. Rose could guess the earful he'd got that he probably hadn't planned on mentioning.

"She does realize," Rose continued, "that I work for Torchwood? It's not like I was following you around. And even if I was, there was the little matter of trying to save the world."

More silence. Just great. As if the Doctor needed more guilt after what had happened. Thoughts of their conversation in the hospital drifted into her mind. That doubt he had...

It wasn't a good conversation to have like this. Rose turned off the water and was promptly attacked by a gentle flurry of towels, the Doctor taking the new strategy of bypassing asking if he could help. After getting into a warm and fuzzy tracksuit, Rose felt loads better.

"What now?" the Doctor asked. "Are you hungry?"

Rose shook her head.

"We could hit some sales," he said with a smirk. "You've gotta be up for some marathon shopping."

She grinned. "Oh yeah. Running around to shops sounds perfect. Just my luck you'd decide to blow it up. The Henrik's in this universe is probably due."

"You're never going to forgive me for blowing up your job, are you?" he asked with a grin.

"Nope!" She took his hand. "Seems a million years ago, doesn't it?"

"Yeah." He smiled and laced his fingers through hers. "Oh! I've got it! Recovery really should include watching bad TV! Well, recovery _really_ should include the medical bay on the TARDIS where you'd be right as rain in an hour, but since the TARDIS won't be ready for a few months yet, bad telly it is!" He pulled her towards the living room.

Rose gingerly sat down on the sofa. The Doctor frowned at her and then sprinted from the room. A few seconds later an armful of pillows landed next to her. He disappeared again. A few seconds after that, even more pillows and blankets mounded on the sofa. He then stood in front of the sofa and "hmmm"ed, eyeing her and the pillows like puzzle pieces.

Rose pictured being arranged for the next hour, which didn't sound that appealing. "Um, Doctor? Did you say something about turkey?"

"Yes! Turkey! You're hungry? That's great!" He ran off to the fridge.

Rose did her own arranging and was comfortably watching TV by the time he came back with a big plate. The Doctor plunked down next to her.

Rose grabbed a piece of turkey. "So was she bad? My mum? You know, giving you grief about me getting hurt?"

"Nah."

"Liar."

The Doctor lapsed into silence, popping a sprout in his mouth and staring at the TV.

"You and my mum are alike, you know."

That got the Doctor's attention. He turned and gave her an appalled stare.

"And you're both wrong. I'm not more important than the rest of the world. Or the universe. Universe _s_."

Rose fiddled with a roll, but she could feel the Doctor looking at her. He took the plate and set it on the table in front of them. The TV prattled on with some quiz show, and at the moment Rose was glad for the additional noise.

Finally he quietly said, "I can't lose you."

There was a finality to the statement, much like when he said something similar earlier. When he seemed ready to sacrifice the world for her.

"I don't want to lose you either," Rose replied.

"Not 'want.' Can't," he said forcefully. "I can't...my life here is with _you_." He was starting to get annoyed. Rose knew this mood of his - he'd always hated talking about this kind of thing, seeming to get frustrated that she didn't already know exactly what was going on in his mind.

"So what do you propose? We lock ourselves in here for the rest of our lives?" Rose asked.

"Well..."

"And don't think you can get away with this just being about me. Whatever bubblewrap you're currently plotting in your head had better include yourself as well, Mister I've Only Got One Life Now. Because my life here is with _you_. Don't forget that."

The Doctor's lips pinched in a thin line.

"We're never gonna get safe insurance jobs, Doctor. And we're not going to only visit zoos once the TARDIS is ready. You wouldn't want that anyway, would you? I sure don't."

The Doctor seemed hesitant, struggling with the answer she knew was there.

Rose reached for his hand. "You could stay here and fill your life with work and food and sleep, or you could go...anywhere."

"Rose..." That single word said so much.

"Yeah, it's dangerous, but..." Rose struggled with what to give him. The danger would always be there, but it was worth it. _He_ knew it was worth it. "Did I mention? You also can travel in time," she said with a hopeful grin.

Something flickered in the Doctor's eyes and he slowly smiled. "How could I refuse an offer like that?"

"You could always turn it down, only to say yes later," Rose teased, still grinning.

"Nah. After all, it's such a brilliant and, might I say, sexy offer," he said with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

"Very sexy." Rose laughed, it hurting less than the other times, and shifted to a new position of half-laying against him. "Not a bad life, eh?"

"Not a bad life." He put an arm around her, but the movement didn't stop. Rose felt a pillow being gently pushed against her. And then another. And another.

"Okay, that's good," Rose said before a full-blown pillow fort could be constructed. She craned her neck to look at him. "But I do need your help for something."

"Really? Anything! You name it! It's those bunny slippers, isn't it? No? Just say the word! Or words, more likely."

"Well, it's really hard to kiss you like this," Rose said with a smile.

"Ooh, that is a problem. A really, really, really big problem. You were right to come to me for help."

"Thought so," she said as he leaned over and kissed her.


End file.
